20 July 2011

Artificial reef projects raise environmental questions:

The USS Arthur W. Radford, a 563-foot naval destroyer, once rode the waves. Now it will break the tides.

Private contractors are preparing to sink it into the Atlantic Ocean, the latest addition to a Navy recycling program that turns outworn battleships into marine life habitats.

The Radford will go down 20 miles east of Fenwick Island, where officials are hoping it will prove a powerful lure for fish — and tourists — on the sandy sea floor.

“It should dramatically increase the use of dive boats operating on all three states’ ports,” boosting tourism for Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, said Jeff Tinsman, Delaware’s artificial reef coordinator.

In the midst of an economic downturn, sinking naval vessels for artificial reefs aims to achieve multiple goals. It creates new ocean habitat and a tourist destination, while also ridding the Navy of outdated ships. Half of all U.S. coastal states have created artificial reefs or have plans to do so.

But some environmentalists, as well as federal and independent scientists, question whether the program provides ecological benefits.

“They’re throwing debris down there and saying it’s an economic opportunity, but they’re not looking into the environmental impacts,” said Colby Self, who is the green ship-recycling coordinator for the Basel Action Network and co-authored a recent report on the Navy’s sinking program.

Only a few studies have examined the impact on the ocean of artificial reefs. The Army Corps of Engineers must approve the projects, and the Environmental Protection Agency inspects each vessel before it’s sunk and can provide advice on where to place it. But state and federal officials are exploring issues such as whether traces of remaining toxic chemicals pose a hazard and whether the ships concentrate fish in areas where they’re more likely to be caught.

The question of whether artificial reefs provide ecological benefits has “been out there for 50 years or more,” said Tinsman, of Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. “If that was any easy question, it would have been answered long ago.”

Some studies indicate that these human-made reefs may harm ocean species, even as they provide clear economic benefits.

“Adding more habitat is not the issue,” said James A. Bohnsack, a research fishery biologist at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries. “You need to protect the fish populations.”

Donald Schregardus, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for the environment, said in a phone interview that when it came to creating reefs, the Navy simply responded to states’ requests.

“We let them decide what they want and if they have an interest in these ships,” Schregardus said. “We are not the experts on whether they are increasing [fish] populations or whether they are the attraction for divers and fishermen. But we want to make sure they’re safe.”

“Our initial experience appears to be positive,” Schregardus said. “We anticipate it remaining in our toolbox as an option.” He said the Navy also disposes of old ships by donating them to museums or other federal agencies, selling them abroad or scrapping them.